Glorious Ruins.

It's been a while & I reckon it's time for a regular, good old-fashioned update on what's been happening... I've always been a big list-maker, so here's how life has been in the past couple of weeks in five parts:



1. Old friends, food, drink & live music.  


Five more weeks till Sweden & I'm treasuring every moment I have with the people here before I leave. Lunches at Marche & dinners at Saveur, watching the Goodfellas at Timbre with Tiara & Kieran whilst getting drowsy from the multiple LIITs & of course, the inevitable late-night suppers. Have also been spending a lot of time at the movies (Great Expectations, Now You See Me, World War Z & hell, even that monsters university animation), which is great except that I keep falling asleep halfway. It's been lovely, nonetheless.

2. Church Camp 2013: Serpong, Indonesia.


Wow. I can honestly say that this has been the best church camp I have ever gone for in the sixteen (yes, sixteen!) years of being an NLCCian. This year we had a combined camp with one of our sister churches in Serpong, a small township outside Jakarta. Church camp is always refreshing & something I look forward to every two years but there was just something special about this years' camp, a combination of certain events & the relationships built with people that made it different & perhaps even ground-breaking.

The highlights:

Churros from a shop called Churreria. We went after these deep-fried treats & their range of chocolate dips like rabid dogs, rushing to the mega mall (right next to our hotel) every night after service to get some. In all honesty, they weren't that fantastic, but somehow sharing these warm, sugary snacks with a bunch of people whose company you genuinely enjoy made them taste so much better.

We also patronized a very hipster cafe called d'journal (or 'DJ ournal' by most of us, coined by Schist) that served pretty good cafe lattes & an assortment of teas every single day. Great hangout spot & plus, they didn't kick us out till 2am.

Had the privilege to be a part of the craziest team in church camp, proudly named 'LIGHTLY SALTED', an eclectic mix of odds & ends: teenagers, little kids & a bunch of parents. It's amazing how we managed to do the wacky night item & the cheer, thanks to our leaders (Alex & Bea) & frankly, because of how creative the parents were. Always ended up in stitches at the end of each rehearsal & enjoyed every moment together. What an awesome bunch of people!

This was the other youth team lead by Pat & Megan (my cool roomie since 2012 lol) that was so amazing, both in their cheer & name & wacky night item. Pity we didn't get to spend much time together though.

Another amazing part of church camp was the worship. I remember just feeling so overwhelmed & partially frustrated before camp at the thought of doing/leading worship for four services, worrying about practice times & music sheets & the biggest headache of all, setlists. Oh, dreaded setlists. It didn't help that my throat felt as raw as sandpaper &that I could barely string a sentence together without a hacking cough. Really could not see how church camp could be enjoyable with so much to do, but God really came through in a time of desperation & weariness & did something so powerful through us in the praise & worship sessions. It seems surreal to talk about it now, about how everything just came together & about how people abandoned themselves fully to worship despite the crackling sound system & power failures. & this was regardless of whether it was a full band or just a guitar & two voices leading. It just showed me how much God could move when we fully relied on Him! I'm beginning to understand what people mean when they say that excellence in worship comes not solely from our skills but from the trust that each musician had in each other, & the trust that a worship leader has on his or her team & vice versa. I just have to say that I'm part of an amazing, amazing team.

It's a crazy rant, I know! It was just cool to see the church, particularly our youth group, be so deep in worship night after night. Not caring about what another person was doing, not caring about how he or she looked like to another. It was as if a dam had broken, as if a wall had come down. What a privilege it was, to be a part of it all.

Besides worship & all the team stuff, we didn't do much else except hang out at DJ-ournal or each others' rooms, talking late into the night. The last night, after megs & I invited a bunch of meandering youth to our room, word unexpectedly got around that everyone was gathering at 1106 & by 1am, there were about twenty people squished in our tiny hotel room. It was a little insane, how we managed to order room service & play bridge & the classic 'animal' game despite how exhausted everyone was... Great great fun though.

Though it was mad tiring with all the music rehearsals & team rehearsals & planning for a birthday surprise (Happy birthday Anthea & Beatrice! Love you both.) while also attempting to squeeze in time with my family, I had a real blast. Church camp has just barely passed but I'm already eager for youth camp 2014 & what new things it'll bring!



3. Work.

After deliberating on work opportunities for a while, I ended up helping out at Oops Asia again this summer. It's always a privilege & joy to go back because everyone feels like family & we always have a good time together, whether if it's at a ministry event or jamming spontaneously in the studio or just laughing over something during lunch.

Particularly excited for our new media videos that we're currently experimenting with & shooting. I love little artsy ventures like these where it allows our team to get creative & create something uniquely 'ours'.

(P.S. what I wore to work sometime last week. Love the chill office vibe, something I often take for granted!)




4. Rest.

There isn't much time for this at all, but when there's an hour or so to spare, I love delving deep into old comforts: poetry, song-writing or best of all, afternoon naps. Can't wait for the couple of weeks just before I leave where I can have tons more of this!

Also, having tea in my lovely, new, firetruck-red tea set! Back story: Last tuesday after a gruelling day of work & before young adults lifenet, I met Andry alone for a quick talk at the coffeeshop because he said he had something 'urgent' to discuss with me. After the talk (which had made me slightly anxious the preceding days but turned out to be about nothing much at all), we walked over to church in time for lifenet to start. But when andry opened the door to the main sanctuary, I got a whole lot of poppers & noise & a rousing 'SURPRISE' thrown at me by a combination of youth & young adults...! What a crazy surprise. Turns out that lifenet was but a farce & that Jenn & Jordan etc had been planning a surprise 21st birthday party for me for a while. The rationale was that I would be in Sweden during my actual birthday & they couldn't celebrate it with me, but it was still totally absurd because my birthday wasn't for another six months. Still, it was really, really sweet (until Circle of Death happened... HAHA). I received a tea set & a double set of TWG teas from everyone, which shows how well they know me ;) I can't believe how fortunate I am to have such thoughtful & amazing friends, & I'm grateful for them everyday.

So thank you all, it was incredible.



5. Sunsets & stuff

Photos taken during our nature trip to chek jawa last Friday, which I had to wake up at 550am for. I surprised myself & a lot of other people simply by getting up at all & staggering out of the house. Interesting trip & good fellowship & took some nice photos, but it's going to take much more than this the next time I wake up before dawn.

That's about it for now. It's currently 6am & I've spent the past two & a half hours just putting this together... somehow, it just felt important to do so. I could go on, but it would be mad to continue & so ends the longest post ever.

Will write again soon, but for now, good night!

The Only Place

Today I skived school & spent the whole day making photo collages on a new photo app. It was a day well-spent, I think. Sometimes it's alright to play hooky, only once in while, to catch up on life. I miss reading and my guitars. I miss summer.


I miss having time.

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 10

'Why do you like to travel?' 

'I have always been fascinated by the size of the world, the diversity of human race, their cultures, the terrains they live in and many, many other things. I won't say it's important for everyone to see the world. Everyone has different interests, but new sights definitely give more perspective.  

'What was your favourite place in the world that you have been to?' 

'I don't really have a favourite place. Everyone is different & I like these differences. My favourite place will be the next one that I am going to.'

Swee Cheng, 35

Marine biologist, photographer, avid traveller. 

The above picture is taken by Swee Cheng himself during a recent trip to NYC. You can see more of his beautiful photographs of places across the globe here.

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 6

'What is photography to you?' 

'I think it's an extension of what I see. I try to focus on things that people find mundane, or things that people will not take a second look at. It's a way for me to say that there are things that are important and beautiful around us, and we need to slow down a little bit... slow down a little to appreciate the environment, and the people around us.' 

'That's incredible. How do you think photography can change the world?' 

'Wow. I've never thought of this before. (laughs) Well... photography is a powerful medium because it's so visual... When a good photograph goes viral around the world, it gets so many people talking. In the right shot, the right time and the right context, photography impacts people with its significance. It makes people rethink their values, and what they believe in.' 

August L.

Singer-songwriter, thespian & photographer. 

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 1

'What is your favourite place in the world?' 

'Paris.' 

'Ah...Really?' 

'Oui.' 

'But why?' 

'(laughs) I'm sure the answer you wanted was something tinged with age-old wisdom that's often associated with seasoned travellers, like 'My favourite place is wherever I am'. I would love to tell you that, but then I'd be lying. Truthfully, I am in love with the cliché that is metropolitan Paris. I am in love with the nostalgic images, the smells of crisp baguettes and hot espressos on a Monday morning, I am in love with the beautiful men (yes, men). I am even in love with my noisy, cigarette-smoking French neighbours, and my grumpy landlady. I sometimes dream of kissing a stranger in the middle of a busy street, like that famous photograph... yes, well, that is how much I am enfolded in the Parisian dream. I might be a cliché, but at least I'm happy.'  

'That's beautiful.' 

'Thank you. Of course, ask me this question again when the faucet is leaking, or when I have three classical lit papers to write, or when I only have fourteen Euros to last me till the end of the week, and I'm sure I'd say my favourite place is anywhere but here.' 

Claudia Lee, 23

Literature student, indie snob & Francophile 

with a passion

Time, it passes too quick.

The silver flush on your cheeks

Buying a used Polaroid One Step off a friend for twenty dollars seemed like a pretty good idea; that is, till I saw the prices Amazon were asking for 600 polaroid colour film. $150 for 20 exposures? Not in a million years.

It's times like these we turn to projects like the IMPOSSIBLE POLAROID REVIVAL: people with a passion for instant photography, who has developed new Silver Shade Exposure technology for the average nostalgia-lover. And not at ridiculously overpriced rates too.

I loved the sample shots, the brilliant inconsistency of it all. Splurge excessively on online photography accessories? I think so.

And we'll go to the market and sell it

What I did on Sunday.

A Jack Kerouac Evening

Love my shelves, love my books, love my new phone! Such a noob at using an iPhone though! All in good time :)

It's a boxed-up world

In the past two weeks, I've inhaled countless dust bunnies and taped together one too many disintegrating cardboard boxes. Packing gets too tiring after all. But let's face it, we all secretly enjoy the chore. It's a treasure trove waiting to be discovered at the back of your drawer and a nostalgic pill rifling through old photos & letters.

Right now though, my once-colourful room (post-its, band posters and pin-up polaroids) has become a blank canvas. Absolutely boring. Can't wait to shift in 36 hours time and mess up a whole other room! Been to the new crib a couple of times to help set things up and I'm proud to say that I put together a chair with my own bare hands!

Of course, I did it a hundred wrong ways, even with idiot-proof IKEA instructions and only 8 bolts to screw in. I did it in the end though, to prove my doubtful parental units wrong! Ha.



HOW-KANG AWAITS. Guess who my parents are voting for on Election day.

Where people are pleasantly strange

Sun been down for days
A pretty flower in a vase
A slipper by the fireplace
A cello lying in its case

Soon she's down the stairs
Her morning elegance she wears
The sound of water makes her dream
Awoken by a cloud of steam
She pours a daydream in a cup
A spoon of sugar sweetens up

And She fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
As she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught
By a thread
She pays for the bread
And She goes...
Nobody knows

Sun been down for days
A winter melody she plays
The thunder makes her contemplate
She hears a noise behind the gate
Perhaps a letter with a dove
Perhaps a stranger she could love

Buy me an ice-cream?

Today whilst looking at furniture at IKEA, the entire family (except mom) started fooling around with the random household appliances, as usual. This resulted in dad accidentally pushing against the emergency fire-escape door handle and setting off the alarm, holding two embarrassingly large lampshades in his hands.

Needless to say, we all proceeded to briskwalk to a ten-metre radius distance and laugh.



4:12am and I'm watching The Office episode where Michael attempts to force Meredith into going to alcohol rehabilitation. I don't want to go to work tomorrow :/

A lesson in carelessness, laughter, and photojournalism

'A young girl pledges an hour of her time to save the Earth.'

Earth Day
26/3/2011
Singapore Expo

Things to be thankful for in these past few days

1. Unexpectedly winning a ten-dollar Macdonalds voucher for Leng's 30th bowling par-tay! And the brilliantly-successful surprise party the day before :)

2. Good food: Seafood fare, homemade meatball pasta, and last but not least... spicy tuna on crackers!

3. The Great Ipod Recovery.

4. Friends. Luki and Ains who helped me with my ADM portfolio earlier today, Justin for singing a Kate Bush/Enya song over the webcam, and my coworkers who never fail to make me laugh.

5. Not losing the ability to have fun playing (sucky) volleyball or reading a Margaret Atwood novel. Simply put, not forgetting to laugh in the face of stress.

Lights

Le Weekend! (has been quite wonderful)

Picture Perfect Poetry

Daisies & a slanted home.

flash flash flash! photography

Five photography accessories to die for. Why do you make me broke, photojojo?

1. The Don Draper Leather Camera Satchel. For those who watch mad men, you'll see how amazingly suited this bag is for a certain Mr. Hamm.

2. For toy-camera suckers, a must-have. The 360degrees Spinner Panoramic

3. Always a fan :)

4. Works with any toy camera with a hotshoe! Holga, Dianas, BBFs, Lomo cams... etc.

5. I don't have a DSLR, but these beautifully-coloured straps are good enough reasons to have one! Love the sky blue and red!




Flying off to Perth tomorrow with Oops! Asia. Looking forward to getting some decent photography in whilst whizzing around doing goodness knows what. For now, au revoir!